Something about december
by Inkkerfuffle
Summary: The first steps into adulthood are difficult, especially if you consider all you left behind.


It had been a long, long week, and Adrien was glad to be finally heading home and resting for the weekend. To tell the truth, his mood was less than spectacular, and even though he had actively tried to not let his mood affect his home life, he was sure he had not been as successful as he'd hoped. He'd gone browsing to see what he could get Marinette for Christmas, but since the agency had yet to mail him his last check, everything seemed terribly, terribly expensive. Sure, she would tell him it was okay. They had been living together for less than six months already, so their expenses had doubled lately, and they'd yet to buy a lot of household necessities. But still… he wanted to give her a good present for their first Christmas living together.

He'd seen a great artist's set, filled with materials, pencils, pens in so many colors that he knew she would love. But the price tag had been something that had stopped him in his tracks. It was still such a new feeling to not be able to just buy whatever he wanted. And living with a budget, coupled with the fact that both of them had just started going to school, made everything more complicated and sometimes he was just… a little overwhelmed.

"I'm home!" he called out, shrugging off his coat and hanging it on the nail by the door. He stretched his arms over his head, trying to relieve some of the tension that had decided to make its home on his shoulders.

"Stay there!" she called out, and he heard her shuffling and running over him "Close your eyes!"

He stood in place, eyes closed and a confused look on his face. "okaaay," he said, waiting for Marinette to come get him at the door.

Adrien heard her steps closing in "Hey Plagg!" She said "I left you some cheese in the kitchen. Ask Tikki, she'll tell you where it is." The kitten kwami greeted her enthusiastically and Adrien felt him float away towards the kitchen, his voice excited as he went towards Tikki.

Her hands touched his shoulders and tugged him down for a kiss. "Hi! Ah ah ah…don't open them yet!" She chastised him and Adrien could hear the smile on her voice. He tried to pull her back in for another kiss, but she'd already moved away.

"Not yet!" she said, laughter evident in her voice, "Come on, I want to show you something." She led him carefully through their home, until they reached their destination. "Stay here for a second… keep your eyes closed!" The blond stood around, battling the instinct to open his eyes to see just what she was doing, as Marinette shuffled around him, humming happily under her breath as she finished whatever it was she was up to. "Oh, crap," she muttered, hurrying away to where he guessed was the wall and … scraping it?

Well, he was intrigued now. "What are you even doing?"

"Shh. You'll see!"

She moved around for a couple more seconds, and then flounced over to him. "Okay!" she exclaimed, "you can open your eyes now."

He did as asked, and took a look around their living room. The first thing he saw was a ridiculous blanket fort, set in the middle of the room. They'd yet to get around to buying any actual furniture for their living room, so Marinette had improvised with some old scraps of fabric she'd found on sale and whipped up some cushions and pillows to set on the floor for whenever their friends stopped by.

Adrien kneeled in front of the entrance, and peered inside. Marinette had gathered all their sitting pillows and cushions and placed them on the ground, creating a perfect and soft, cuddling spot. She'd used the chairs as walls, draping some blankets on top of them to perfectly cocoon them inside. String lights were hung over the fort's ceiling, and her computer was propped up on top of an empty box.

"Where did you even get all this?" he said, an amazed smile appearing on his face.

She grinned, "Maman dropped off some stuff earlier." She motioned at the ornaments, "She said she'd accidentally bought too many decorations." She rolled her eyes; fully aware that her mother would use any excuse to give them something to cheer up their apartment. "Also," she continued "I know we've been really busy this week… so I figure it's a nice date night without really going anywhere."

Well, it was the truth. First; Sabine would use that particular excuse to spoil them somehow. And Adrien also knew that if he was to look at the kitchen, the woman might have left some snacks or cookies and a couple ready meals stacked in their fridge. He was actually surprised that Sabine had even tried an excuse.

Marinette was also right… school had been absolutely insane for the both of them and their biggest interaction had been during breakfast before they each left for class, and at night before they slept. It was probably one more reason for his sour mood these past few days.

"That's not all!" she said, and it was then when he realized just what she was wearing. Her top was hers, a simple pink pullover with long sleeves, it was the pants that drew his attentions. They were his favorite's sweatpants, which absolutely were hanging on to dear life from her small frame. Her feet were absolutely hidden from view, since his legs were so much longer than hers. Her fingers were also stained with something green, and she had a matching smudge on her face. It was endearing.

Marinette continued, her hands moving as she explained. "So, after I finished that… I thought of something else." She pointed towards the wall besides the window that overlooked the street. Over there, there was a drawn in Christmas tree, made with green chalk; it definitely explained the smudges on her hands and face. She'd sketched it as realistic as she could, adding some details in other colors to give it depth. She'd pushed in some thumbtacks against the wall, using them to hang some small ornaments and hook a small set of string lights, which twinkled in different colors in the room.

It was so absolutely silly, but it warmed his heart in ways he wouldn't even be able to explain. It was his first Christmas away from the mansion, and while the mansion was always tastefully decorated, since they actually hired someone to do it, it wasn't homey. No, it was not at all… and it really settled in his heart that he'd made the right choice, when the sight of a drawn in tree against a wall could cheer him up this much.

He grinned at her, feeling much better than he had when he'd gotten home, "We're probably not getting our deposit back." Adrien pointed out, as he wrapped his arms around her waist and resting his chin on top of her head.

"Eh. It'll wash away." she said, leaning back against his chest, a proud smile on her face. "It's just chalk."

He snorted, amused at her nonchalance. But hey, he expected to live here with her long enough to not care about deposits. "I love it."

She beamed, "Good," and reached over to kiss his lips lightly. "And oh, she also brought some treats." she turned away from him, heading towards the kitchen area.

Adrien followed, watching from a small steps back as Marinette clearly struggled with the pants' length. He reached over to tug them lightly down her hips. "These are mine, you know…"

The young woman laughed and swatted away at his hands. "I was cold." she explained, "And, you left them on top of the bed. It's your own fault, really."

He snorted, his fingers ghosting across her hips, "I think I might want them back… now." his finger hooked on the waistband, as a playful grin appeared on his face.

She laughed, squirming away from him, as a mischievous look appeared on her face as well, and she swatted at his face lightly, successfully smudging his face with chalk residue. She grinned, her face devoid of any sort of apology. "Oops."

It was war. He sputtered, rubbing at his face as she laughed at him, succeeding only in spreading the color across his face. "I'm definitely taking them back now." He reached for her, and Marinette squealed in laughter as she escaped, pulling the legs up with her hands to uncover her feet, and hiding on the opposite side of the kitchen counter that separated the kitchen area from the rest of the living room.

The couple circled the counter slowly, each of them waiting for the other to make a mistake to make their move. Marinette had speed and agility on her side, so when Adrien made a false start she took the chance and ran the opposite way, her feet thudding lightly on the wooden floor.

Adrien, however had a very important thing going for him. He was taller, therefore… longer limbs. Also, he was wearing shoes, and Marinette was wearing fluffy socks and pants far too long for her legs. He was better prepared. He followed when she ran past him and reached for her waist when he saw the chance, pulling her off the ground and towards him.

"Noo!" Marinette laughed, feet dangling from the ground as he spun her, laughing as well. He pulled her up and carried her towards the living room. "Put me down!" she demanded, squirming in his arms.

"Nope!" Adrien kneeled down on the floor, letting her down in front of the fort's entrance, "I'm taking you into my cave."

"You are such a dork." Marinette said, crawling inside the fort with ease and switching on some of the battery powered lights, casting a dim light around them. "Besides," she said, sitting cross legged as she watched in crawl in "I made it. It's my cave."

Adrien grinned and crawled over her, his face hovering over hers as he supported his weight on his shoulders. "Maybe I am… but you're not complaining," he said, nuzzling his face against her neck as he began placing delicate kisses against her skin, "And it's my cave now, I'm taking over it."

She was definitely not complaining, as she wrapped her arms around his neck, tilting her head to the side to allow him as much room as he could possibly want. "Shush," she said, her fingers trailing on his back, humming pleasantly, before they cupped his face, bringing it back to hers for a kiss.

It had been far too many days since they'd had time to themselves like this.

Her lips were warm, and they tasted of peppermint and hot chocolate, but most importantly of home. He nudges her lips with his, humming when she licks at his lower lip and pulls him closer to her, her hands running through his hair. His hand trailed down, holding on to her waist, hip and back, mapping out her curves with reverent touches. One of her foot dragged down the back of his legs, and his hand slid down her hips, gripping her leg and hiking up over his hip.

His fingers snuck under the hem of her shirt, his sour mood long forgotten by now. He tugged it up her ribs and Marinette let go of him to sit up, allowing him to pull the shirt over her head, leaving her in a pink cami and his oversized sweatpants. "Wearing. Too. Many. Layers."

"It was cold." she reminded him, pulling at his shirt, "Your turn now."

Adrien reached for his shirt, pulling it over his head and throwing it over his shoulder with such bad luck that it completely disestablished the precariously perched laptop behind them. The seating stool stumbled on its spot and Adrien scrambled to catch it before it fell on the ground. He managed to save it, but not without falling awkwardly on his back, hissing at the contact of the cold floor against his bare skin.

Marinette crawled towards him, taking the laptop from his hands, a concerned look on her face. "Are you okay?" she asked, putting the computer on a safe spot and turning towards her boyfriend.

Adrien was laying still, a frown on his face. "That was a mood killer." He muttered. There went the idea of breaking in the fort.

She snorted at his pouting, offering her hand to pull him back towards the cushions "Come on," she told him, amusement evident on her face, "Let's watch a movie." She sat back on her heels, opening the laptop and placing it back on the box.

Adrien settled in again, and waited for Marinette to hit play on the movie, not even bothering to put his shirt back on, wrapping his arm around her once she snuggled up to his side. He pulled one of the blankets on top of them, and turned his attention to the screen.

The movie had barely begun when the lights outside of their fort flickered and turned off, and her computer's light dimmed considerably; a sure sign that it was working solely on its battery power. Marinette sat up, hitting pause and Adrien peered outside of their fort.

"Well, that was unexpected." he said, before nodding towards one of the string lights that was still on "how are those still on?"

"Battery operated." She said, frowning at the computer before shutting it softly. "I bet its Monsieur Vincent from across the hall." she muttered, blue eyes narrowed as she crawled back to Adrien, snuggling against his side again. "I saw him carrying another box into his apartment again."

Adrien raised one eyebrow. "More toy trains?"

"Probably." she answeered "I have no idea how they actually have room left."

"His wife is going to go murder him then." he said, not even making an effort to move. They had "Do you think the power will be back tonight?"

"With the way they handle things here…it's anyone's guess, really." She paused, pursuing her lips for a second before continuing, "We should really start buying candles for emergencies."

"We do have candles," Adrien said, "Those ones you keep in the bathroom." But yes, they were really unprepared for emergencies. And this incident had actually happened at least two times in the months they'd been living here. And always because of those damned trains.

"Plagg hates those." Marinette pointed out, "remember last time?"

Ah yes. He remembered. It was yet another quirk from his kwami. Stinking up the whole home with Camembert? No problem, but if they lit up some scented cinnamon candles? It was somehow too much.

"Watching the movie won't work now," she pointed out, knowing that the battery was not going to last through the whole thing, "but we could just stay here for a while… It's nice and warm."

He hummed his approval, and Marinette curled up against him, closing her eyes as she relaxed. "How was school today?" She asked,

"It was… okay." he said, "I'll have a lot of get some reading done in advance though… I got booked for right after new year." That was a small relief, to tell the truth; he was going to get paid in advance for that one… but it was still going to be after Christmas. Which still left him with the problem of just what he was going to get her for Christmas.

Last Christmas, it had not been a problem at all, he was still living with his father, and therefore he still had access to a great deal of luxuries that made gift picking a very easy task. Marinette still wore the delicate necklace he'd gotten her. He could see it now, dangling from her neck, the little charm glinting against her collarbones. As for this year; he still had no idea what he'd be able to get… everything that was just perfect, everything that had Marinette's name written all over… he could no longer afford.

The whole concept was still hard to grasp.

They fell into a restful silence; his hand was splayed across her torso, and he was taking full advantage of the fact that her cami had ridden up, his fingers massaging the skin of her waist and hips softly, the tip of his fingers pressing lightly as he hummed peacefully, eyes closed as he'd finally reached relaxation.

This wasn't a new occurrence, and it had taken Marinette several months after the beginning of their relationship to realize just what it was. Sure, at first she'd been quite confused that he'd begin touching her skin and promptly fallen asleep, and there were plenty frustrated nights for her.

But now, she already recognized his behavior for what it was. Her silly cat was kneading on her. It usually happened when he was really tired, or now… when he was visibly stressed about something, which seemed to be the case now.

She would never say it out loud, since Adrien sometimes got a little self-conscious when certain feline behaviors popped up in his day to day life; but Marinette had already decided that she loved this, and now that she understood it, she fully let him pet her until they'd both fell asleep.

The lights flickered for an instant, and they both perked up, but the darkness returned before they could get truly excited about the power being back. "I knew there was a reason this building was as cheap as it was." She muttered.

He snorted and resumed his kneading, eyes closing as Marinette rested her head back on his shoulder.

Marinette was aware that their life was difficult. They'd both left the comforts of their previous homes to start building something together. Granted, Adrien had given up way more comforts than Marinette could even begin to list; and she knew that he did it gladly; but sometimes… she wondered.

They were currently cuddling inside a blanket fort, built in the middle of their bare living room in a building that had such bad electric wiring that had probably blown another fuse box. That kind of thing rarely happened on Marinette's old house, and she figured that it never happened in the Agreste Mansion.

And their money was extremely tight this month. There was a reason they had decided against any decorations, and that was because between schoolbooks, and the materials Marinette needed for school, their meager budget w as stretched as much as they could get it too.

It was difficult, sure; but she knew that it would be a start. They had both started working, and with Adrien still working on photoshoots, and her job and commissions she took from time to time… they would make it work.

She just wondered if he regretted it sometimes.

"Adrien?"

"Hmm?" he hummed, his fingers still tracing softly across her skin.

"Are you okay?" She asked, worried blue eyes looking up at him. "I know you've been having a bad week…I can tell." Marinette paused for a second, biting her lower lip as she pondered what else to say, "I just… you looked like you could use a little pick me up, so I planned all of this… but then movie night was pretty much destroyed by our crazy neighbors and the terrible wiring in our building."

Adrien felt a small weight on his chest. He hadn't thought it was that noticeable. "I… I was a little bit stressed," he conceded, "But I didn't want to bring it home. There's no point in you worrying too!"

"Well, I worry!" she exclaimed, "Silly cat, we're in this together. I want you to be happy here!"

Adrien sighed. "I am!" he told her, "It's just that… Christmas is right around the corner and… "He hesitated, knowing fully well what she was going to say to him.

"And?"

"I can't afford anything I want to give you."

"Adri… You know I don't need presents, right?" she trailed off, sighing as she pondered just what to say. "Do you… do you miss how things were before?"

The dim lighting that the string lights provided allowed her to see the thoughtful expression on his face. "Before?"

"Before… all of this." she said, her head resting on his shoulder, worried blue eyes looking at his face.

Adrien exhaled, his lips pursued in thought. "Yes and no." There was no response from Marinette, so he continued. "I liked not having to think about stuff like this." he explained, "Bills got paid on their own, things got fixed or replaced and I never really thought about it." Nathalie usually made sure that his material needs were covered, and he had never really made an actual effort to test just how what his credit card limit was.

So yes, if he still had access to that; they would be living in a far better apartment; probably with a view to be envied. It'd be big enough for them Marinette to have a small studio to work on her designs, and a place for him to study with no disturbances. But taking control of his life, meant breaking from under his father's control. And that meant giving up all the perks that his father could offer. The Agreste money was one of them.

"I wish that I still had money to buy that set of pencils you liked." he said, "That we could buy an actual sofa to lounge on when we get home, and a real dining table." Marinette had propped up her head on her hand, and was looking at him, biting her lower lip thoughtfully, but said nothing, so Adrien continued. "But even like this, this crappy building feels more like home than my father's house ever did." he said, "So no, I don't really miss before. I'm… I just wish that it was easier sometimes."

Marinette nodded, and he was able to feel the motion against his skin. "Alright." she said, her voice filled with the same determination than when she would finally figure out a plan to defeat an Akuma. "Here's my plan. We're setting some rules. We're not spending more than five euro on each other's presents. And… they have to be silly."

" _Twenty_."

Her eyes narrowed, but there was a pleased edge to her expression, clearly pleased to be reaching an understanding. "Ten."

" _Fifteen_." he countered, narrowing his eyes playfully at her.

"Deal." She said, extending her hand to shake on it, a bright smile on her face. "But no going over it!" " her smile against his chest.

He felt lighter now, and his arms tightened slightly around her, which she returned by pressing a kiss to his shoulder.

"It will get better, you know?" She said, "Years from now, we'll probably laugh at our very, very shoddy apartment."

He snorted, his hands beginning to move against her skin again. "And your drawn tree on the wall?"

"We will treasure my tree." she said, her index poking at his chest. "Treasure."


End file.
